Franklin sheds light on electricity

Thursday, January 17, 2013

PHILADELPHIA -- In June 1752, Philadelphia was the site of one of history's most renowned experiments when Benjamin Franklin flew a key on a kite from the steeple of Christ Church to conduct electricity from the clouds.

This moment was actually just the first step in Franklin's long mission to guard his fellow citizens from storm hazards by creating one of his greatest inventions, the lightning rod.

The Franklin Institute is now home to an intriguing collection of eight artfully-handcrafted antique lightning rods, dating from late 18th through mid-20th centuries.

This unique collection, which is housed in the Electricity exhibit, sponsored by PECO, will be on display for one year and open during the anniversary of Franklin's birth.

The collection is on loan from New York media executive and folk art devotee, Joshua Sapan. Sapan's more than 100-item collection of lightning rods is believed to be the world's largest, and some of its most beautiful and singular offerings are part of this first of its kind installation at The Franklin Institute.

"It seems only fitting that The Franklin Institute, founded on the unquenchable scientific spirit of Benjamin Franklin, would be the first venue to exhibit some of the finest selections from this collection," according to Dennis Wint, president and CEO of the Franklin Institute.

"These items are an expression of America's rich past, the children, if you will, of one of Franklin's own brightest and most valuable inventions," said Wint.

Though a ubiquitous item on many American homes, farms, churches and municipal buildings since the late 18th century, these antique lightning rods have only piqued the serious interest of collectors since the mid-1990s.

The story of the introduction of lightning rods into American homes is a reflection of Franklin's own eclectic passions and pursuits; merging science, industrial artistry and unbridled free market commerce.

Lightning rods were manufactured by hundreds of regional companies across the country, with a spike of interest and sales in the years immediately preceding the Great Depression.

The rods and the brightly colored and intricately detailed glass balls and other decorative items that were used to adorn them, were sold by door-to-door salesmen, traveling in the early years by horse-drawn wagons.

Many of these fiercely competitive showmen took the self-appointed title of "professor" to add scientific authenticity to their pitch, positioning the lightning rods as a valuable instrument of protection from the threat of lightning strikes and the fires they created.